FAIR TRADE COFFEE , TEA, HOT COCOA WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE AFTER ALL SERVICES THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH.
Volunteers needed to help sell Fair Trade coffee please contact Deborah Chusmir at dchusmir@verizon.net.
WHY FAIR TRADE?
Coffee is big business—it’s the second most heavily traded commodity in the world. But for the majority of small coffee farmers, the benefits are small. The chain of events that leads from the coffee farm to your cup is long and expensive, often leaving the farmer with very little to live on.
There is an alternative: FAIR TRADE. Fair trade shares the bounty of the coffee trade with those who grow the crop, helping them build a better future for themselves and their communities.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Coffee Project is a new way to help people in need while enjoying fellowship and an excellent cup of coffee. As Christians, we can address a consumer dilemma by buying coffee that is fairly traded. United Methodist congregations that participate are helping small-scale farmers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia earn a fairer share of income, obtain access to credit and technical support, and gain a trading partner they can trust, a fair trade organization called Equal Exchange.
The UMCOR Coffee Project offers a new link between our congregation and people in other countries. We can reach out to our neighbors overseas with the products we buy as well as the offerings we give. In addition, for every package of coffee purchased through the project, Equal Exchange makes a contribution to UMCOR to further support coffee farmers and their families.